Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1887-12-01
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL

"In many animals" says Nature.
STRUCTURES occur without any physio-
logical value, but it is known, also, that
such structures-as for instance, the hind
legs Of whales-disappear
A mushroom plantation has been es-
tablished in disused railway tunnel
at Edinburgh. The mushroom beds oc-
cupy about 800 yards of the tunnel,
whose total length is about three quarters
of mile.
The pruning of vines has been inves-
tigated by H. Mueller, who finds that
the proper time is while the fruit is ripen-
ing, and that the young shoots should
be cut, as their development requires
much sugar.
The common thistle, which now covers
large areas in southern Chilli, is said to
have been introduced there by an Eng
lishman, who imported a bushel Of seed
and sowed il under the delusion that the
plant would prove valuable for fodder.
DIR. Frantzel, of Berlin, reporting on
the effect of tobacco on the heart, says
that smoking will not affect person for
many years, and that then there will
suddenly come trouble of the heart.
Common cigars, he says, are not SO likely
to produce the trouble as the finer ones.
English locomotive builders have been
compelled to adopt the American pattern
in many respects in order to control their
Continental traffic. The ideas of Ameri-
can mechanics are permeating foreign
workshops, and the stubborn adherents
to old methods have been obliged to ad-
NIT that much is to be learned on this
side of the water. %
The woody, melon shaped fruit of the
sand-box tree Of the West Indies is made
into neat box by saving off the top
and scooping out the seeds, and is used
in Barbados for holding sand. When,
however, the fruit is allowed to ripen on
The tree, it bursts explosively, scattering
the seeds over the ground. An expert
menting naturalist recently sought to
preserve specimen of the fruit by dry
ing carefully, but it exploded with such
violence as to destroy the box containing
it.
A new dairy machine, invented by M.
Magnetic, of Paris, has been described
by Professor James Long. 1t extracts
the moisture from butter, or the whey
| from from soft cheese, by means of sue
ton. The vase of the machine consists
of reservoir which has india rubber
sides, and at the bottom piece of per-
forated metal of fine quality; this COM
municates with an inspirating pump and
a reservoir for the liquid, which is drawn
out by the vacuum created by working
the machine. Filtration is rapid, and in
a few moments the curd is solid and
ready to be placed into moulds, which
| form the skim-milk cheese.
A newly patented pavement is said to
have been suggested by the surface of an
elephants tooth, which consists of inter-
| mingled layers of hard and soft material,
so that the process of wearing always
produces a series of ridges upon the sur
face. The new system of paving is the
idea of Mr.. Ranyard, the English as
tronomer, and comprises the use of
blocks having alternate hard and soft
layers-such as Portland cement and a
mixtrue of sand and cement, which are
set upon edge, SO that the edges of these
| ldulluB lOIm W6dIAuS SulluCS. lu6
blocks are made four inches high, and
may be worn to less than an inch with
out becoming smooth, like granite
blocks.
Where the unframed eye will see
nothing but mire and dirt, says Sir John
Lubbock, science will often reveal ex-
quisite possibilities. The mud we tread
under our feet is grjny mixture of clay
and sand, SCOT and water. Separate the
sand, however, as Ruskin observes-let
the atoms arrange themselves in place
according to their nature-and you have
the opal. Separate the clay, and it
becomes white earth, fit for the finest
porcelain: or, if it still further purities
itself, you have a sapphire. Take the
the SCOT, and if properly treated it will
give you diamond. While, lastly, the
water, purified and distilled, will become
dewdrop or crystalline into lovely
star. Or, again, you may see in shall
low pool either the mud lying at the
bottom, or the image of the sky above.